Well that was embarrassing!

As we were driving back from yoga on Tuesday my neighbour said "oh, I've got big news for you, M (her daughter) and B (her British boyfriend) are getting married on Saturday in Geneva"! It wasn't as big a surprise as it might have been as they were engaged anyway and looking to get the paperwork completed in France, but since B still has his name on the lease for his apartment in Switzerland until the end of the month they were able to get accepted at the Mairie in Geneva where an available time slot came around quicker than they anticipated, so they had to rush and get everything sorted in time for a civil wedding today. It wasn't a big wedding - just immediate family - but they looked lovely. After the wedding they drove up the mountains near me for a fondue and my neighbour asked me to come back to their place afterwards for a celebratory drink. Actually they were lucky to get up the gorge for lunch because I saw on FB this morning that access was pretty much at a standstill (it leads to two of the bigger ski resorts round here). Initially it was blocked with people heading out to ski - locals, I guess, because the big ski vacations for the schools don't start until next week - but I just heard from a friend that there was also a horrible accident on the way up there too. It's a narrow winding mountain pass up through the gorge with steep drops on the one side. Apparently a car was involved in a fairly minor collision with a truck and one of the passengers jumped over the retaining wall to in order to get off the road and out of the way of the traffic but didn't realize there was a horrendous drop on the other side of the wall. It's not as stupid as it sounds because there are trees right up against the wall and you could easily mistake it for flat ground behind. Anyway, the roads were blocked for several hours while the emergency services looked for the poor guy - who eventually turned up dead further downstream trapped under a rock in the river! Bloody hell, what an awful way to go!

Anyway, since I was invited over later to have a drink with the newlyweds I dashed out as I wanted to buy a bottle of champagne to take with me. The supermarket was pretty busy unfortunately so as there was no line for "10 articles or less" I ended up standing in the line where priority is given to the disabled, elderly and pregnant women. Well the lady cashier at one point looked at the stomach of the woman in front of me and asked her if she was pregnant because if so she should jump to the head of the queue. Now this young woman did, indeed, look about seven months pregnant but the husband turned round and said "no, those days are over for us"! Ooops! I saw the cashier blush vividly and felt so sorry for her as she was only trying to help! Actually, I did the same thing with our banker too when we were going through the divorce. After we had finished our meeting I asked her when the baby was due and she said "I'm not pregnant"!!!! Never again! I will never say anything to a "pregnant" woman ever again. Better to just wait till the baby's born next time before opening my mouth I think!

That being said, I can't really talk as my own belly isn't exactly J-Lo material and I reckon I haven't seen my toes (except at yoga) for a good while now. And this despite the fact that my weight goes up and down like a bride's nightie! On top of all the walking I've been doing I haven't had a drink for six weeks now so I kinda hoped some of it would come off but apparently sugar cravings seem to have kicked in so I guess that'll be the next thing I have to tackle! Gotta knock the chocolate on the head too I guess! Anyway, when I was buying the champagne I also picked up another bottle of kombucha as I'm going through it at a rate of knots at the moment. And talking of kombucha, my home brew seems to be coming along nicely at two weeks along - I've either got a very good base for my own kombucha or a severe case of botulism in the making looking at the mouldy stuff floating about in there. I guess only time will tell right!

Anyway, getting back to next door's wedding, my neighbours said I could ride over with them because of limited parking space and the husband got chatting to me about his friend, Jo, who might also come if he could get back down the mountain from his shop in time. He has several shops that sell cheese and dried meats - upscale deli-type of thing, I guess. Anyway, M was telling me what a nice guy Jo is - I've met him a couple of times and he does indeed seem to be a nice chap. He's a widower but had been with someone for quite some time when she apparently ended it a couple of months ago. So my neighbour was saying how the gf will regret this as "Jo is a lovely guy and has plenty of money"!! His wife has also made a few comments about inviting me over to dinner at the same time as Jo, so trying to set me up or what? Now I have nothing against Jo - from the little I've seen of him he seems to be a genuinely nice guy - but what really riles me is that the husband has to mention how much money he's got. Is that what men really think? That women are only interested in them for their money? Or is that what women are really like? I don't know, but that's certainly not the case with me. I was actually pretty offended to think that Jo's having money (or otherwise) would be a factor in whether or not I was interested in the guy! Actually it doesn't rile me up, it makes my blood boil!!! I mentioned one time previously how the first guy I dated briefly after my husband left was a very wealthy Spanish lawyer and he offered to pay my mortgage off because "I've given more money than that to the Prado"! So I told him thanks very much but no thanks as you can't put a price on freedom and that I value more than anything in the world. Oddly enough that's probably why we remained on good terms even after we split up! But my neighbour trying to "sell" Jo to me really offended me. Am I being unreasonable here? Maybe trying to play matchmaker - no problem there - but please don't insult me with the money angle!

It brought to mind a time when one of the local guys asked me if I would be interested in standing for the village council "because we could do with another woman on the board", and then realized I couldn't because I'm not French. And again I think "what, do you want me to stand for the village council because you think I'm up to it or because I've got a pair of boobs"? I don't know, maybe I'm just hormonal (ha) but I get really offended to be (a) treated like a pair of boobs or (b) treated like someone who would be interested in dating a man just because he has money! Now before anyone bursts a blood vessel I know there are plenty of women out there who do see men as a pocket book but I'm certainly not one of them. I have my own home and my own money - it's not a fortune but it's more than enough for my needs. What's more I didn't "make out" in the divorce either - quite the contrary actually, but what the hell, it was worth losing out on over $100,000 I had put into the house to begin with (as against his $0) to get my freedom (and I wasn't the one playing away from home, which brought about the divorce anyway). I don't know, maybe I'll say something to my neighbour the next time Jo comes up - or maybe I shouldn't. Am I being over sensitive? I'm not sure on that one!

Anyway, on to less cerebral things! I was messing around on Google Earth yesterday and had great fun googling my address and seeing my house with my car in the driveway. So then I googled my ex mother-in-law's place and saw her car in her driveway too. It kinda made me a little sad as I have fond memories of both my mother-in-law and father-in-law in that house, and now pap is dead, amme (MIL) is old and I'm divorced from their son. I guess time moves on faster than we care to think doesn't it. So then I googled my ex's address in PA (I know, nosy cow aren't I, but he gave me the address) and it's a nice place he's got (although his windows could do with a good clean). But google earth is really something. So then I googled my address when I was growing up in Birmingham and see that the school that I attended, and which backed on to our back garden, is now huge - about three times what it was when I was there. Oh, and then I read that Birmingham City Council are trying to push through a motion to make all of the city centre a car-free zone! Wow! Good luck with that, I think it would be wonderful. In fact, as long as I can remember Birmingham's City Council has had a reputation for being very dynamic and forward thinking (probably something to do with all the ladies on the board - it's the boobs ya know) so I really hope this comes to pass. Not that it will affect me, of course, but good on them for giving it a shot!

Spaghetti Junction, Birmingham

The above is a picture of Spaghetti Junction in Birmingham. I only ever drove round it a couple of times but I think I was about 18 when I got on those roads one time and about 21 by the time I found the right exit!

In other news I've been slowly continuing my attempts to learn more about France in connection with my request for citizenship. There's a lot to learn but I honestly don't mind - I just have to park my bum and get down to it. But today at the drinks with the neighbours I asked them to name all the French presidents since the beginning of the Fifth Republic (established in 1958) and no-one could do it - so I'm pretty sure I'm on the right track then if the French don't even know the answers!

And wrapping up, I see that Kirk Douglas has finally died at the grand old age of 103. To be honest, I wasn't a fan of the man or his films. I don't have a lot of time for serial cheaters, but then I guess that was a matter between him and his wife wasn't it. Can't stand Michael either but … In any case, talk about having good genes though, with both him and his wife living in to their 100s and seemingly in reasonable health to boot. That is quite an achievement in this day and age isn't it! Not sure it's one I'd want to emulate but when you consider the alternative who knows!